COSAFA CUP 2024: 10-man Emerging Stars fall to Comoros

Emerging Stars suffered a setback in their quest to qualify for the knockout stages of the ongoing COSAFA Cup following a 2-0 loss to Comoros at the Wolfson Stadium in Ibhayi, South Africa, on Sunday afternoon.

Kenya went into the match having defeated defending champions Zambia 2-0 in their opening match but that effort was undone by an efficient Comoros side which served the Emerging Stars a taste of their own medicine. Comoros scored twice from their first three shots on target, matching Kenya’s efficiency when they won against Zambia.

Affane Said Djambae was the hero for Comoros as his brace sealed the vital victory which set up the Indian Ocean islanders to prolong their stay in the tournament. The brace saw Djambae become the tournament’s top scorer.

Djambae opened the scoring in 34^th minute from the penalty spot after debutant Paul Ochuoga had been sent off for making the foul that led to the spot kick. Comoros capitalized on their numerical advantage in the 48^th minute, with an alert Djambae lurching on to a miscued shot-cum-pass into the pass before slotting the ball past Emerging Stars’ goalkeeper Byrne Omondi.

Comoros continued to threaten aggressively after that as they searched for a third goal but even in their nervousness, Byrne Omondi and his defenders managed to prevent further damage as the clock ticked to fulltime with the score unchanged.

Speaking after the match, Emerging Stars coach Ken Odhiambo rued the red card and the penalty that turned the tide in favour of Comoros. “It was a double tragedy,” he said.

Odhiambo lamented after the Emerging Stars losing their focus following their red card which resulted in even further profligacy in attack.

“We were disjointed after the red card. We have a young team and they did not know what to do. We were in a rush and failed to maintain our shape. We had chances towards the end of the second half and had we been clinical, the second half would have been different,” Odhiambo said before promising that his team will bounce back against Zimbabwe in their final match.

Following their 2-0 win over Zambia, the Emerging Stars were expected to sail to comfortable win but it was not to be. Ken Odhiambo made one change to the starting line-up – replacing Geoffrey Onyango with Paul Ochouga – and it proved to be the decision that cost him the match as Paul Ochuoga was sent off after only 32 minutes on his full debut.

Byrne Omondi kept his place in goal and he was protected by Paul Ochuoga, Sylvester Owino, Amos Wanjala, and Alphonse Omija. John Ochieng’, Chris Erambo, and Austin Odhiambo formed the three-man midfield while Patrick Otieno, Benson Omalla, and Ronney Onyango maintained their places in attack.

The first 20 minutes were frantic as the teams scrambled for possession in a fast-paced match which saw opportunistic shots from long range by both sides and tackles which resulted in bookings for Ahmed Haslane of Comoros in the 10^th minute and Paul Ochuoga of Kenya in the 12^th minute. The latter booking was to prove costly for Kenya 21 minutes later.

During that phase of play, the Emerging Stars struggled to play the ball through middle as pressure from Comoros led to losses in possession which resulted in the Islanders getting a sniff at Kenya’s goal, albeit with long range efforts that went hopelessly wide.

In a spell of so many fouls, one such transgression close to the Emerging Stars’ goal almost resulted in a goal for Comoros but the freekick from Ali Mze dipped narrowly over the bar in the 14^th minute.

The Emerging Stars did not get any clear cut chance during this phase, except for an opportunistic shot in from Austin Odhiambo in the 3^rd minute which went over the bar. With the midfield crowded, Kenya preferred to launch its attacks through Patrick Otieno on the left wing who received so many balls from long passes, including from goalkeeper Byrne Omondi.

However, Patrick Otieno could not replicate his performance against Zambia, during which he scored one goal and won the penalty that Austin Odhiambo converted, as his creativity was stifled by tight marking.

Nonetheless, the Emerging Stars finally grew into the game midway through the first half and almost scored in the 25^th minute when Austin Odhiambo found Benson Omalla in the box with a cheeky back-heel pass but his Gor Mahia teammate, while attempting to place the ball into the bottom right corner, skewed his right-foot shot wide.

It was a clear-cut chance that Kenya would come to regret not making count, however, that opportunity heralded a spell of possession of Kenya during which they really threatened Comoros by winning three corners, which were taken by Austin Odhiambo, in quick succession that almost resulted into goals.

The first corner was spilled out for play for another as the Comoros goalkeeper Adel Anzimati-Aboudou struggled to get a good grip of the ball. The second corner saw Patrick Otieno’s looping header into the top left corner palmed away by Adel Anzimati-Aboudou for another corner. The corner resulted in a downward header from Chris Erambo which Adel Anzimati-Aboudou saved comfortably.

That effort by the Emerging Stars was however deflated in the 32^nd minute when sloppy defending from Paul Ochuoga resulted in him allowing Kassim Hadji to get ahead of him and in his attempt to recover possession, he fouled him. Malawian referee Godfrey Nkhakanaga had no choice but to show him a second yellow card and award Comoros a penalty which Djambae converted by sending Byrne Omondi the wrong way.

Despite falling behind and going a man down, that turn of events did not discourage the Emerging as they continued with their attacks on the Comoros goal and they almost pulled one back in the 43^rd minute but Omalla failing to control a pass from Austin Odhiambo, allowed Anzimati-Aboudou to snatch the ball from him before he could do further damage.

Comoros took a 1-0 lead to the break and returned more energized in the second half. Their determination was quickly rewarded in the 48^th minute when after Kenya lost possession on the left half space of their defending third, Comoros quickly recovered the ball and played quick passes which resulted in Djambae pouncing on the ball in the box before slotting it past a sprawling Byrne Omondi.

Smelling blood, Comoros continued to bombard Kenya’s goal but the Emerging Stars managed to thwart their attacks. As Comoros attacked relentlessly, Kenya did its best to reduce the deficit but Comoros defended even more resolutely.

The result not leaves Comoros and Kenya level on points in Group B but Comoros is ranked higher since they have a better goal difference.  Zimbabwe, who also have three points after defeating Comoros 1-0 in their first game, play Zambia later. Should Zambia win that match, the group will be blown open as all teams will be on three points going into the last match.